Dolutegravir, chemically (4R,12aS)-N-(2,4-difluorobenzyl)-7-hydroxy-4-methyl-6,8-dioxo-3,4,6,8,12,12a-hexahydro-2H-pyrido[1′,2′:4,5]pyrazino[2,1-b][1,3]oxazine-9-carboxamide and has the structural formula I:

Dolutegravir is an experimental new drug under investigation for the treatment of HIV infection. Dolutegravir is an integrase inhibitor. Also known as S/GSK1349572 or, the drug is under development by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
The chemical formula of methyl 3-(benzyloxy)-5-(2,4-difluorobenzylcarbamoyl)-4-oxo-1-(2-oxoethyl)-1,4-dihydropyiridine-2-carboxylate of formula II:

Dolutegravir and its processes were disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,129,385 ('385 patent). The synthetic procedure is illustrated in scheme I, below:

According to the '385 patent also described a process for the methyl 3-(benzyloxy)-5-(2,4-difluorobenzylcarbamoyl)-4-oxo-1-(2-oxoethyl)-1,4-dihydropyiridine-2-carboxylate. The synthetic procedure is illustrated in scheme II, below:

Processes for the preparation of dolutegravir were disclosed in International patent application publications. WO 2010/011812, WO 2010/068253 and WO 2010/011819, and also disclosed in European patent application. 2412709.
The methyl 3-(benzyloxy)-5-(2,4-difluorobenzylcarbamoyl)-4-oxo-1-(2-oxoethyl)-1,4-dihydropyiridine-2-carboxylate is a key intermediate for the preparation of Dolutegravir.
It has been found that the methyl 3-(benzyloxy)-5-(2,4-difluorobenzylcarbamoyl)-4-oxo-1-(2-oxoethyl)-1,4-dihydropyiridine-2-carboxylate produced according to the prior art procedures involves higher number of chemical steps and results in low yields. According to the present invention methyl 3-(benzyloxy)-5-(2,4-difluorobenzylcarbamoyl)-4-oxo-1-(2-oxoethyl)-1,4-dihydropyiridine-2-carboxylate can be obtained in higher yields and in fewer number of reaction steps than the prior art processes.
We have found a novel processes for the preparation of methyl 3-(benzyloxy)-5-(2,4-difluorobenzylcarbamoyl)-4-oxo-1-(2-oxoethyl)-1,4-dihydropyiridine-2-carboxylate using novel intermediate.
The processes of present invention are simple, inexpensive and reproducible and are well suited on an industrial scale.
Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a novel processes for preparing methyl 3-(benzyloxy)-5-(2,4-difluorobenzylcarbamoyl)-4-oxo-1-(2-oxoethyl)-1,4-dihydropyiridine-2-carboxylate using novel intermediate.